The Wall Street Journal – Disappointing Meta, PayPal Earnings Send Shudders Through Stock Market

Quoted from The Wall Street Journal:

“The level of forgiveness has gone down,” said Daniel Genter, chief executive and chief investment officer at RNC Genter Capital Management. “When boards come to their shareholders to confess their sins, they’re just not going to be pardoned with one Hail Mary.”

Meta, PayPal and Spotify entered 2022 at rich valuations. While the S&P 500 ended December trading at 21.5 times its projected earnings over the next 12 months, Meta was trading at 23.6 times, PayPal at 36 times and Spotify at 543.9 times, according to FactSet. Spotify isn’t an index constituent. By Thursday, Meta’s multiple had pulled back to 18 times forward earnings, while PayPal traded at 25.6 times. Spotify, meanwhile, traded at 666.2 times, after analysts cut their earnings forecasts.

“Those stocks were really priced way beyond perfection,” Mr. Genter said. “People are saying, well, guess what, perfection is not here.”

End Quote.

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